Who plays
Tarleton State Texans @ UTEP Miners
Current records: Tarleton State 3-8, UTEP 6-3
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What you should know
Texans fans better hope the team plays a great game on Monday, as the odds are clearly stacked against them. They and the UTEP Miners will compete for holiday cheer at the Don Haskins Center at 9 p.m. ET. The Texans are undoubtedly hoping to end their five-game road losing streak.
Tarleton State heads into this game after oddsmakers set last week's over/under low at 135.5, but even that ended up being too high. They suffered a 66-51 loss at the hands of UCF last Sunday. After the Texans scored a whopping 90 points in the previous game, the point total in this game was quite a disappointment.
Although they lost, Tarleton State smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. This strong performance was nothing new for the team: They have now grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, UTEP unfortunately saw its three-game winning streak end on Wednesday. They fell just behind Louisville with a score of 77-74. For those keeping track at home, this is the closest defeat the Miners have suffered since February 3rd.
Corey Camper Jr. had a good performance for the losing side, going 7-for-13 for 19 points plus two steals. The dominant performance also gave him a new career high in three-point shooting accuracy (66.7%).
Tarleton State has fallen significantly from its 23-8 record last season and is now 3-8. As for UTEP, the loss dropped their record to 6-3.
Monday's contest is shaping up to be a shooting masterclass: Tarleton State has shot from deep this season, making 37.2% of its three-pointers per game. It's not like UTEP is struggling in that regard, however, as they've made 40.3% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it will be interesting to see how their clash unfolds.
While UTEP and Tarleton State both let their fans down in their recent games, both were still cautious. As for the next game, the game looks promising for UTEP as the team has a whopping 15.5 point advantage. They are currently 5-2 against the competition and have been a solid investment this season; On the other hand, Tarleton State is just 3-7 ATS.
Opportunities
According to the latest college basketball odds, UTEP is the heavy favorite against Tarleton State by 15.5 points.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the starting position, as the Miners were considered favorites with 16.5 points at the start of the game.
The over/under is 131.5 points.
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